Sunday was a day of real diversity for me. On the one hand, I woke up and I felt like garbage. My throat hurt. My head hurt. I think I had a fever at certain points in the day. So, I spent the early afternoon trying to take a nap and endure. On the other hand, Sunday afternoon was awesome. Kadyn had recently decided he wanted to give his life to Christ and be baptized. So, Sunday afternoon his grandparents, his aunt (Jennifer), and some close friends came out to see him take his step of faith and obedience. He was joined by Nicki Sheafe (daughter of Brad and Krista) who was also making the same decision. Before they were baptized the whole group stood in a circle and a handful of people prayed for Kadyn & Nicki and their life in Christ. Then afterwards we all took communion as good friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. It was a cool thing. I hope Kadyn and Nicki will always cherish that moment . . . I know I will.
Anyway, I woke up Monday morning feeling as bad (physically) as I had on Sunday. But as I’m laying in bed a thought struck me, “Am I really ready for this?” It was the same thought I had when Kadyn was first born. “Am I really ready to be a father? Can I really be an adequate dad?” Six years ago when Kadyn was born I had no idea the way those two moments would coincide with one another on Monday morning with a shared feeling of, “Can we do this?” Kadyn is an infant in Christ. Am I really ready to raise him up to maturity? Can we teach him to walk in Christ? Can we teach Kadyn to feed on God’s word? Can Molly and I really equip him to love Christ, seek His Spirit, and be obedient to His will? Can we teach him to speak with grace and truth?
My hope is that as a family and as a church through Christ we can do it . . . together!
There’s a new book out in Christian Books stores that might be worth your time and energy. It’s written by a pastor (Kerry Shook) in the Houston area. The title of the book is “One Month to Live.” The idea for the book actually came out of a challenge he gave to his staff at his church and then ultimately to the church where he leads.
He asked them to make a commitment to live for a 30 day period like it was the last 30 days they would ever live. He wanted to see how that would alter their decisions, their values, and their actions. If you only had 30 days to live, would you live differently? That question isn’t a bad question for any of us to ask. In fact, it leads to a series of questions we need to ask. For example, if we only had 30 days left in this life, would we express our love for our family and friends differently? Would we seek to restore some relationships that had been damaged? Would we forgive some grudges we’re holding? Would we ask others to forgive us? Would we stop doing some things that are frivolous and pointless? If you only had 30 days left, would we complain about less? Would we express gratitude more? Would we more emphatically ask people about their eternity and the decisions they need to make? Would we pray differently? Would we seek God more regularly? Would we take more risks for the sake of the Gospel? Would our priorities be different? What would change?
The truth is (outside of particular diagnosis and timetables) most of us don’t know when the final 30 day clock starts to tick. For all we know it may have already started and we’ve got one less minute than we had before we started to read this blog.
What I am about to write is probably not going to be received well by all who read it. Please know it’s not written with malice or even a strong sense of aggravation. It’s just really written mostly out of a sense of wanting all of us to be intellectually honest. So, here goes.
First, you need to know a few facts. Number 1 — At FCC we run the sound system at the exact same decibel level every week. It’s the only thing “scientific” that we can measure in our service and know for sure. We do the tests. We know the numbers. Number 2 — No 2 human beings hear sound in the exact same way. Frequencies, pitch, volume all vary from one person to the next. Number 3 — People don’t always hear the same from one week to the next. If someone mowed their grass, went to a concert, caught a ballgame, visited Chicago, or got in a shouting match with their spouse they can have their hearing ability altered temporarily and sometimes permanently.
So, with those facts stated let me share with you what some may not like. On occasion I’m told “the music at FCC is too loud.” At other times I’m told, “So and so was holding their ears during worship.” Usually these comments come from people who have been in the church for a while. Seldom do they come from people who are new to FCC. That might have to do with the spirit of appreciation that flows from people who are experiencing something new and life-changing not something they’ve grown to accept as normal and expected (that’s not the part that might be aggravating by the way).
READ THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH AS A GENERIC EXAMPLE NOT A SPECIFIC CASE! IT’S NOT ABOUT A SPECIFIC SITUATION AS MUCH AS IT’S ABOUT A GENERAL THOUGHT: Recently, it was reported to me that there were people in our morning service who kept their ears covered while the congregation worshipped. Apparently they felt the music that morning was too loud (keep in mind that it is always the same). Then over the weekend we held a concert. The sound techs intentionally ran the music louder (that’s what happens at concerts) than they do on any Sunday morning ever. In fact, statistically the difference in volume was the equivalent difference between sitting in a car with your windows up in downtown Chicago (that’s a normal Sunday volume) versus holding a running chainsaw (that’s at the concert Sunday night). It was later reported, the same folks who had recently covered their ears during worship sat (smiling) throughout an entire 2 hour concert. Then talked about how much they enjoyed it when it was all done. Does that experience make sense to you? I’m not asking, “Do you understand what took place.” I’m asking does it appear consistent to you? It doesn’t to me.
Which then leads me to conclude this: Much of what we hear about sound and volume has very little to do with ears and much more to do with expectation and attitude. (There’s the statement some aren’t going to like.)
Over the course of the past 3 or 4 months I’ve been wrestling with my experience in God. Part of the wrestling has been initiated because I don’t want to settle for an “ordinary” experience. I don’t want to settle for an “ordinary relationship” with an “ordinary God” who is able to call me to an “ordinary life” where I live alongside an “ordinary family” who worships with an “ordinary church” out of a sense of an “ordinary obligation.” So, how do you do that? How do we break out of that “ordinary” sense of the mundane or routine. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. Hence, the process of wrestling. But here’s one thing I’ve landed on believing: If God is still alive and active (I don’t doubt that He is), if His Word is still relevant and true (I don’t question that it’s not), if this world isn’t all that He intended for us to experience (my hope believes that it’s not), and if He intends to use me as part of His plan to redeem humanity and establish eternity then I should orient my life (every day) not on securing the expected and ordinary but seeking to fulfill His purpose.
Jesus taught us to pray with a similar sense when he said to his disciples, “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven.”
All right, so I use to love to golf. Well, actually I still love to golf, but I don’t have nearly enough time to give to it. So, one of the fun “hobbies” Molly and I enjoy together is going out to eat. We love it. So, here’s my 3 lists of great restaurants in C-U.
3 Great Breakfast Locations (not in any order):
- The Original Pancake House (My kids love this place . . . it’s their top request.)
- Jim Gould’s (I think they have the best pancakes in town. You have to try them.)
- Le Peep (I’m a sucker for the “Desperado”.)
3 Great Lunch Locations (not in any order):
- Billy Barooz (So convenient to the church building. Make sure you get the nachos!)
- Dos Reales (I could eat Mexican food 3 times a day.)
- Guido’s (Great burgers)
3 Great Dinner Spots (not in any order):
- Alexander’s (Go with friends. Seat your lady at the table. Get your boys and head to the grill!)
- Flat Top Grill (It’s on campus so be strategic when you go.)
- The Great Impasta (I love it. Go with the Mardi Gras Pasta and make it spicy!)
